Ghost Writer 2
by kimmiesjoy
Summary: A collection of stand alone Halloween themed stories written as a Castle Halloween Bash 2018 entry. Ratings and Genre may change with each chapter.
1. Little Monsters

**A/N:** a Halloween themed collection of one shot stories. AU implied. Ratings will change and vary. I'm recovering from surgery so bear with me.

* * *

Castle whined, sighed again, and pushed himself up from the bed, "It's no good, I'll just have to go as _me_."

"That's not a costume, and it's your party." Kate huffed and followed him, knowing that a little banter would stir the creative juices " _Our_ party, we've got a rep to protect here, Castle."

"Then _help_ me."

"I _am_!"

"Your last three suggestions were _wear a toga_ , _look on google_ and _here let me check facebook real quick_."

Enjoying needling him far too much Kate let her eyes dip back to her phone, "Well _according_ to facebook -"

"No good sentence ever starts that way, Beckett."

She ignored him, carried on "- my "halloween boyfriend" is an axe murdering clown."

At the lighting up of his eyes she shook her head, flicked his ear. "No way, Bucko, we've got three kids under six, I do not need weeks of nightmares because Daddy dressed up like Bobo and pretended to axe murder Mommy."

"Oh yeah, and Mommy threatening to _shoot_ Daddy on a regular basis is keeping them sane and normal."

"They're your kids, Castle, sane and normal was never gonna be an option."

His wide eyed grin of pride had her eyes rolling.

"Still no costume ideas?"

The bickering couple pirouetted in unison at the entrance of their friend. Lanie sank down on the desk, eyeing Castle with disbelief.

"Nope, keeping it kid friendly is getting harder. I can't wait until they're teenagers."

"I can," Kate said quietly to herself, brow furrowed with visions of her three very-like-their-daddy kids in full blown teenage mode. Let alone what her genes had thrown into the mix.

"But this is _your_ holiday, _your_ tradition."

"I know," he groaned, head dropping onto his desk with a clonk.

"Well, get your damn Writers vest out of retirement at the very least."

"That vest is _not_ retired," Kate grinned, tongue through her teeth as visions of last night danced playful and seductive through her mind.

"Oh, thats gross."

"You have no idea," Castle smiled suddenly equally lost in memory.

"She has quite a good idea, actually." Lanie piped up, "Mrs. loose lipped detective captain lady over there lets slip quite a lot when she's tipsy."

Kates cheeks pinked up, "Er-" she grinned, " _most_ of it's true."

"And what's not we can try next time Lanie babysits."

Arms crossing, Lanie growled. "It's Espo's turn."

"Nu-uh," Espo appeared in the doorway at the sound of his name, "what's my turn?"

"Babysitting the Castle trio."

"Good god, no. It's Ryan and Jenny's turn."

"They've got three of their own." Kate reminded them, just a little peeved with how her friends were talking about her kids.

"Exactly, they already have paint on the walls and know to watch for singed curtains and bath product experimentation explosions."

"One time." Kate leapt to her kids defense, "One time they accidentally set the curtains on fire."

Suddenly talking amongst themselves Lanie and Espo's heads dipped conspiratorially. "Given the parents, it's hardly surprising they're the most destructive kids known to mankind."

Ryan wandered in, a small, fat baby on his hip, "Talking Castle kids?" He grinned, "Is anyone else waiting for a tiger to appear?"

"Or an explosion whenever they leave the room?"

Espo sighed, "I miss that laptop."

"Hey!"

Jointly defensive, Kate was now on her feet, finger pointed at the adults, whilst Castle stood at her side as if preparing to hold her back.

"We replaced your computer."

"And your curtains."

"And that vase was very precariously balanced."

"And kids throw food all the time."

"Jake only took that duck for a walk."

"And lily didn't mean to tap dance the mirror off the wall, she just has a lot of energy - "

" - and her grandmothers flare for high kicks

"Guys, you gotta admit it," Ryan smiled.

Espo grinned, "Your kids are a handful."

Lanie glared, "Just like _you_."

Kate opened her mouth, but a loud crash drowned out the rest of the argument

"We'll pick this up later," Kate threatened, mama bear mode hard to switch off.

"Go pick that up first," Lanie cackled as the sound of crashing crockery and giggling filled the loft.


	2. Before the sun

_Help me understand the best is yet to come_

 _Take me by the hand before I come undone_

 _Cos all this emptiness has left me feeling numb_

 _But it's darkest right before the sun_

 _..._

* * *

The darkness engulfed him without conscience, falling heavy and stealing his sight. It took a moment to adjust. Not _long_ in the grand scheme of things but alone, as he had assumed himself to be, it felt as though time stood frozen, waiting for his pupils to gather up the night. There was no panic this time around, no adrenalin rush of terror to tighten his chest. In fits and starts the world came back to him, quiet pinpricks of detail slowly reappearing.

The inky sky bled open slowly, alive with the stars that had eluded him a few moments ago. Right where he left them, they blinked to life. The trees at the water's edge now wavered and tipped as if in greeting, lonely friends in his midnight wanderings. Though perhaps not lonely for too much longer.

At his side the sea rolled and threw fragments of its stolen stardust across the darkened sand. It thundered home in heavy crests that battered the ground as they landed, a drumroll of anticipation from Mother Earth herself.

He strolled on. The sky threatened rain and if it came he'd get wet. If a midsummer snow shower should start he'd freeze before he retreated inside. Cold air couldn't touch him tonight. Nothing could. His blood boiled with longing, want and need a rush that pushed him forward, heart soaring with a countdown that had felt as though it would never end now ticking by its final seconds.

He didn't flinch, didn't startle as perhaps he might have once, instead Castle waited at the edge of the stone fall, toes dipping into a shallow rock pool, listening to the rapid breath of the person standing just out of sight. His lips curled, unseen, a smile there and gone again, fingers coiling in his pockets as he waited.

He knew she was exhausted, knew too it would not last. Transformation and the fight against the current draining her energy but soon enough her laugh would come, her energy return. Soon enough she'd be able to over power him easily. So he waited.

It was hard, standing still. Castle ached to hear her voice, as he knew she longed for his and yet neither of them spoke. It was his turn this time and something in him kept them both hanging on a little longer. Until he could wait no more.

"Have you ever noticed they get brighter the longer you stare at them?"

His hands opening and closing as he waited to reach for her, knuckles white one moment, palms cold and empty the next. The chilled ocean air nipped at the bare skin on his forearms and calves, beachwear at night not the only reason his skin rose with goosebumps, his body alive with shivers.

She was here. At last.

"I never look at them when I'm with you."

Surprised by her candor he smiled wide, both of them stepping around the rocks that separated them. The soft rustle of disturbed sand gave away her movement, footfalls in the windswept dunes bringing them closer.

When she finally stood before him, his breath caught in his chest eyes roving her body, no time to linger, drinking her in.

"Why do you always do that?" She whispered, voice lilting as it caught on the night air and danced off down the beach.

"Do what?"

There was an infinity of lost time in every step. Dragging seconds holding their bodies apart.

"Wear hardly any clothes and stand out here shivering?" She closed the distance between them, her wet hands falling on his bare arms.

"You're one to talk." His arms wrapped around her, pulled her in tight.

"I'm naked."

He grinned, "I know."

"Not badly dressed."

His eyes dipped, "Again, I know."

"It's hardly the same thing."

"You'll be cold soon enough, Kate."

"You don't have to suffer with me."

His eyes turned serious and she regretted the words immediately, thrown out and unthinking.

"Yes, I do."

Her lips met his briefly and she breathed the words against his mouth, "Not what I meant."

"I know."

"Then you'll know what I'm about to say next."

"Take me to bed?"

"Not even close."

"Take me inside?"

"Not tonight."

His eyes danced. "Right here?"

"Yes." She pulled him until he lay beneath her on the shore. "Now."

* * *

After, they lay coiled in the sand. His shirt cast across her cooling body and his shorts haphazardly pulled into place.

"I can't stay long."

"You never can."

"If they know I've gone -"

"I know."

"I miss you."

"I miss you too."

"Are they any closer -

She sat up, knowing the same argument would come. The same pain. She needed to stand for it, to be ready to fight it on her feet.

"To?"

"- to a cure?" He couldn't help it, his heart rippled with hope and he watched a reflection of the same emotions dance across her face. He stood now too, swayed closer. Not wanting the battle somehow needing it all the same.

"It's not a _cure_ , it's who I am, it's -"

His hands curled at her jaw, "You _know_ I don't mean it that way." His thumbs glanced her cheekbones, stroked love across the swell and paused at the edge of her eyes, darker now her blood had cooled. "I love you for _you_."

Her fingers caught his wrists and squeezed. "I _know_ -" deflated by the truth she leant into him, "- I _do_ know." She kissed him hard and waited for his eyes to meet hers before she carried on. "There was a moment -"

"Ah -" his heart sunk in his chest, lungs suddenly empty, the weight of their happy _never_ after tumbled and pinned him to the ground.

"No, listen." Her fingers coiled around his and she stepped into him, chest to chest, _cold_ now she'd been out of the water for so long, but somehow still warmer than he felt right now. "There was a moment a few months ago when they managed to increase the time."

"How long?"

"Eight days?"

"Eight -" he froze in shock, "Kate that's over a week, that's more than we've _ever_ hoped, ever had - Kate thats _enough_."

"No, no it's not, not when they think they can do more, maybe change me completely, Castle. Forever." She pulled him closer. "We could have a lifetime."

"We could have eight days -" something broke inside him, desperate as the sun rose behind them. Their time nearly over, soon his countdown would begin again It made him beg, plead, "- we could have anything more than _this_. This _torture_."

Her eyes swam, "Castle -"

"I _miss_ you."

Her lashes were wet where they glanced his cheeks, her lips hot and frantic as they crashed over his. Every second apart spilling through those hard, frantic kisses.

"One day a year is not enough."

"I know. I know. I'm -"

"Don't be sorry." He grew fierce then, refused to allow her to doubt herself. "Never be sorry for this."

"I love you."

He softened. "I know, but Kate -"

"One more year." She swallowed hard, "I swear, _one_ more and if eight days is what we get then we'll cram a lifetime into every second. But please, one more year. I want so much more with you than eight days will allow. A home, Castle. A family."

The longing in her voice stunned him into silence. Oh, he could see it. A house full of sunlight and happiness. Her dancing, singing, light on her feet as she chased their children, teased him. Laughed. He could see it now too, and he wanted it.

A year was all she asked, and he could deny her nothing.

On a breath more shaky than he'd like it to be, Castle nodded, arms wrapped so tight around her they both fought hard to breathe yet tugged each other ever closer.

"A life."

"Yes." She smiled, though it was the barely there, it was hopeful.

It tore him up inside to even think of letting her go again, but how could he crush her hope. Hell, how could he crush his own.

"A year."

"Really?" Her head dipped, forehead touching his as relief swamped her.

"I want what you want Kate. I want -"

"Everything?"

"Always."

"Yes."

"Yes." Cradling her body against his, he could feel the change coming almost as much as she could. "How long?"

"A minute, maybe two."

"A year?"

"Yes. Just a year, Castle. I swear."

"No more, Kate."

"God, no. No." Her eyes bled with the truth of it, the pain, the missing him tearing through her as she waited out the transformation.

She felt it then, the surge of energy creeping into her toes. Taste it at the back of her throat. She hated it.

Regret flooded her voice. "It's time." She kissed him once and pushed him back. Resigned. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Sunlight threatened them now, rippling over the ocean waves like glitter. Her naked body seemed to shimmer in the light, colors dancing on her skin before the water rose, caressing her ankles and her feet, sliding upwards until her calves disappeared into the depths.

Watching her transform always amazed him, the scales pushing through bare skin as she sunk into the sea, bluey green, purple in places, her favorite color somehow visible in the salty shimmer as she swam, flipped and turned back to face him. Her eyes changed too out there in the ocean, widened, deep hazel now a luminescent green, so bright they shone in the fading dark.

Once more he found himself smiling, staring out across the sea, alone, wondering how he found himself in love with a myth. A fairytale.

A year, he told himself as she swam. One year and she'd be back.

Her hand rose, lips pressing into her palm, sending a kiss from the sea, and, with a last flick of her tail she dove beneath the water.

Gone.


	3. It's the end of the world as we know it

**"But it'll do, save yourself, serve yourself.**

 **World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed**

 **Tell me with the Rapture and the reverent in the right..."**

* * *

I don't have long. I'm sorry for that. You deserve so much more of our story than time will let me share. I wish he was here for this part, to tell our tale. He's better at it than I am.

They're coming and we have a chance to get her back so I'm writing this before the battle in hope that when you read this you'll understand why we couldn't take you with us. Why I couldn't let him go alone.

When the war started people like me, cops, everyday street defenders, we ended up as a last line of defense. It wasn't how it was meant to go down. Wasn't planned. But the end of the world didn't quite go as expected. And I never thought I'd be on the wrong side of a revolution.

But I was and now I have a chance to make it right. Forgive me, forgive us, and know that we love you.

* * *

The changes came in stages, so quietly at first that the mutterings of the few seemed like radio chatter. Nonsense in the middle of the night that we could tune out.

But it only got louder.

Scared. People took to the streets and begged for sanity to prevail. Begged that those sitting would stand up, that those quiet would raise their voices and those still wearing blinkers would finally see.

They all did of course, but by then it was too late. Too many had been taken away, too many had died.

The few that remained were unsettled and so they decided we needed to be calmed. They spoke softly and calmly and made it make sense, how could we go on as a species whilst chaos reigned. I believed them.

* * *

The armies were first. Where once was silence now was marching, where once was madness came order and instruction. Where once was choice came demand that we fall in line.

Most did. Most had to. And for a while it worked.

Still I didn't see that I was fighting on the wrong side of the war. I, and those like me, defended the strict new policies claiming that yes, this was necessary and safety of the masses outweighed the inconvenience of the few.

I was blind.

* * *

Inevitably people rebelled, took sides, and those that were sent to protect us became the enemy. The human race moves forward, constantly seeking, and eventually even those like me saw through the ritual to what lay beneath it, not order but _control_.

For one brief moment in history I was on the right side of change, and together we rebelled. In waves, in huge almighty crashing waves of human desperation, we rebelled. It seemed worth it, the fight, the battle. We lost great numbers but so did they. The tide turned and suddenly almost like flicking off a switch the time of the army and the military was over.

Oh, we thought things would get better now. We thought this was the dawning of a new age. That the time before was just a blip and now we would make the world whole again.

But we were blind.

By then there were fewer of us, our numbers dwindled, made low by the dead, lost or in hiding, and still the factions divided among themselves. Infighting was rife, and no where was safe. Humanity turned upon itself. And in doing so we made ourselves vulnerable.

That was when _they_ came, unbeknown to us, they slipped in quietly and waited us out.

* * *

Soon after, while _they_ sat on the the sidelines and watched us fall apart, the second wave of leaders came. The _talkers_.

The time for war was over they preached, the time for healing had begun. Now a new age for humanity would rise, a new time for peace and hope. And into line we fell, desperate for _salvation_.

It seemed peaceful. Somehow we didn't see it was just as dangerous. With tactical advantages, they _talked_ a good game and reminded us of the old days. When politics was verbal battle and wit and spar, when we felt free to walk the streets without our visors and our lead and our weapons. We fell for it because it was nostalgic, because for a brief second it allowed us to feel safe. To forget.

We fell for it because we wanted to. We listened with deaf ears assuming ourselves numb to the pain.

We had no idea.

That was when _they_ made themselves known.

* * *

Crafts appeared over the cities and from each ship a representative arrived, soft and gentle and just enough like us that we remained unarmed and off guard. Wary but desperate.

Their eyes were large and full of sorrow for all we had endured, their long fingers wrapped around human hands in greeting and apology for the suffering only now _they_ could offer to ease. And with our planet dying what could we say but thank you?

When the trades began we fell for the bells and whistles. Oh, they hid it well at first, and we agreed because we wanted it to be true. For the greater good. For all we had already endured. We wanted it so badly we were blind to our own downfall.

And I helped them. I became a hunter.

* * *

They offered our vulnerable safety and when _they_ looked upon the children with pity and offered to send them off to places untouched by war we lined up and handed them our hearts. In return they damned our souls.

When the news broke of where the children were being sent, what they were being used for, the world broke again. I didn't think it possible but when we'd already lost so much all remaining hope was crammed into those tiny bodies, those tiny hearts and minds.

The talkers went down hard. No mercy. The streets became anarchy over night and the time of the soldiers seemed like the good old days. Violence rose. No religion, no politics and no speech could ever undo the damage.

And that was when I met _him_. A talker of a different kind. That was when I learnt the truth. That was when I switched sides and saw the world for what it really was.

He opened my eyes.

* * *

His faction had broken the news of where the children were being kept before they were sent away, had stepped in and started a war. Now, here, underground, miles below the city, were hundreds of them, squirreled away. He was working to keep them _safe_.

Ambushed, with his back to the girl he was defending, I expected an easy target. He was not. Rage fueled him, love in abundance brought his senses into sharp focus and even in the dark he seemed to know I was there.

Night vision goggles lit him up like a Christmas tree, and I loaded my gun without mercy, aimed for his head, right between the eyes. Ready to take the child away, still fighting for a cause I knew nothing about.

When he hit me I barely flinched, assumed he would go down easy. Weak and trained for nothing beyond pretty words and sounding clever. His knife sparked off my arm like lightning and my bullet bounced off the wall at his cheek leaving nothing but an echo in its wake.

Gun to his temple, his knife to my throat, our eyes locked as we panted hard to catch our breath and think through our next moves. We froze as the child he had been shielding suddenly spoke.

"Please don't hurt my Daddy."

"Alexis-"

From the shadows she stepped forward, no more than five and her eyes luminescent in the dark, her lip curled in on itself as she tried so hard to be brave.

"Please, he's my _only_ Daddy."

I watched his eyes close, pain etch itself in the lines of his face, loss burning bright. A pain I had endured myself. The knife pressed into my jugular quivered then as he squeezed it too hard.

Something in him was breaking and it was horrific to watch.

Intimate in a way that had become foreign to me. I felt sorrow and pity wash through my blood. Anger. Betrayal. Shame. _Hope_. My heart blossomed with it. Emotions I haven't felt since before the wars flitted to life watching a man I didn't know grieve for his daughter.

"I don't want to go." She whispered.

"I won't let you take her." He swore.

For the first time in three years I lowered my gun and felt nothing but relief.

* * *

I don't know why I went with them, protected them. The hunter and the hunted. To this day I can't name the reason that made me trust him. Made me listen.

I'm glad I did. Can't regret a moment of what passed between now and then, without it all you wouldn't exist.

We grew close, over time. Trapped underground and living on next to nothing I'm not sure how we didn't kill each other. We argued constantly. Bickered like children.

The planet above us was dying slowly and yet down there, somehow, love _bloomed_.

* * *

We survived, for five years we made it our home. We met good people and we invited them in. He showed me that we're stronger together and taught me sometimes magic requires a little belief. Our numbers grew, slowly, people even started to trust the uniform I wore, trust me as one of their own again. It seemed like a fairy-tale.

Just before he asked me to marry him he told me he'd once been a writer and from then on he used his imagination to show me how the world could be. So much better than it once was. The stories he shared made me believe in life again, in happiness. In you.

The best surprise.

When you came he cried. Your sister did too, far too grown for her years seeing you seemed to change her, bring back a little of her innocence. Kneeling beside me, mouth open as you curled your whole hand around her tiny finger, she broke open with a sound we hadn't heard in a long time. _Laughter_.

* * *

They came for her not long after.

Night and day had been indistinguishable for over a month then, when the ships came in silence we barely knew what had hit us until they turned on the full beams.

They took your sister before we could stop them. Wide innocent eyes and hair as vivid as the end of the world fire that raged around us, her scream will stay with me until the day I die. The look on your fathers face will too.

I passed you off to a fellow officer, another who had broken rank, become a sewer rat rather than kill more innocents. He swore he'd keep you safe or die trying. If you're reading this it means he kept his word. Thank him for me.

But they're coming now and I have to go. We found the location today, the co-ordinates of the outpost where they're holding her, and we're going to get her back. We're going to be a family again.

We'll come back for you one day. As soon as we can. As soon as it's safe. Until then remember we love you. That our stories will end together, one day.

Because _you_ are our final chapter.

Our _Hope_.


	4. Toxic

**There's no escape**

 **I can't wait**

 **I need a hit**

 **Baby, give me it...**

* * *

She's near frantic when she arrives home. Bursting through the door, coat, shoes and bag discarded in a heap. No finesse, just urgency. There's a huff as her getting-too-long-again hair cascades down her shoulder, bun finally free. Another nuisance now forgotten.

Single minded. Her attention narrows.

She can sense the intoxication, feel the anticipation rising in her skin the closer she gets. It burns like acid, bubbles through her veins in a heated swathe that has her clutching too tight at her buttons as she sheds her shirt.

"Castle?"

"On it."

She turns and could kick herself for not assuming he would be. He is, of course he is. Elbow deep in fancy machinery, making it _worth_ it.

Kate shrugs free of her bra, throws on a loose t-shirt and sighs. It's an old one of Castles so she drops her pants and steps out of them, leaves her legs bare as she plucks her socks from her feet. Finally free.

She opens her mouth but he's already waving a hand to shoo her.

"Thirty seconds max!"

"Okay," she doesn't sound disappointed, it's more a hum of contentment as she eases herself around the counter, sucks in a breath when she finds it more difficult than she did yesterday.

He laughs. "Bit of a squeeze?"

Her eyes narrow, finally plopping down on the stool waiting for her. "You know better."

He does. No teasing before. No unnecessary delays. He laughs anyway. And it's only as he leans nearer, offers his slightly stubbled cheek for a kiss that Kate gets a hint.

"You tried something new?"

The grin she offers is totally worth the days lost writing. Worth hours of google research and trips to the weird little store half way across the city. Worth the burnt pots, breeze from open windows dispelling the smell and witches brew stained fingertips.

"Thought I'd try something a little _festive_ ," he wiggles his fingers. "Could I offer you a taste test while you're waiting?"

She fists her fingers in his shirt before he's ready for it, laughing as her extra weight pulls him fiercely into her. Castle has to catch himself on the counter, brace, and submit to the onslaught of her kiss.

His response is surprise, delight, intoxication in turn. "Wow."

She grins, tongue to her lips, relishing the kiss and the flavor. "Yeah." Kate hums a little, lets the aroma waft over her, settle in her pores. "Homemade pumpkin spice?"

"How do you get it every time?"

She wiggles a little, giddy as he pours her coffee, pleased with herself, not only for guessing but for making it to this moment each day for their unborn child.

She rubs her bump, "I might have a little help." Kate takes the cup he extends, grins into it as his fingers roll lightly under the hem of her loose t-shirt, greeting their daughter.

"She's a cheat." Castle steps back, indignance only halfheartedly a show. It's no fair they can team up against him already.

"You love it." Kate eyes him over the mug, daring him to lie.

"I do."

She sighs again, the weight of the day drifting away from her as she swallows a mouthful of coffee. Relaxes.

"Thank you."

It's genuine, soft, grateful in a way that still surprises them both sometimes.

"One cup a day, Beckett, we've got to make it worth while."

"You do," she smiles, one hand on the mug as she curls it just under her chin, inhales, the other flits between the bump of their daughter and his cheek. "It is."

He lights up when her eyes drop to her bump, heart swelling at the way her cheeks flush with love for their daughter.

"Happy Halloween, Kate." Next year sparkles in his eyes. Fat pumpkin babies in bright orange onesies, little chocolate fingers and trick or treating traditions. So much to look forward to.

She kisses him. "Happy Halloween."


End file.
